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Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Alida’s Song

By Gary Paulsen

New York: Dell Yearling: Random House, 1999

Contemporary Fiction—88 pages

A boy lives with his constantly drunk parents in the city. He has made his own space in the basement and makes money by selling newspapers in bars. He has nearly flunked the 8th grade and has no interest in school. His grandmother—Alida—invites him to spend the summer on the farm in Minnesota. His life is changed as he learns to milk cows and do farm work with Gunnar and Olaf, Norwegian men who live there. He eats his grandmother’s delicious cooking, sleeps on the porch, attends a dance and comes out of his shyness. This book is almost multi-cultural, giving details of Norwegian farm life. It is beautifully written and very sensitive. Girls as well as boys would like it.

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Island of the Blue Dolphins

Island of the Blue Dolphins
By Scott O'Dell
Boston:Houghton Mifflin Co., 1960
181 pages

Karana, an Indian girl, learns to survive alone on an island after her people go away. Her solitude becomes full of animal friends and useful work. She confronts dangers and challenges with creativity and courage. After 18 years she is rescued and rejoins the world of people.
This beautifully-written story is based on a real person.

Hard Times for Jake Smith

Hard Times for Jake Smith
By Ailene Kilgore Henderson
Canada: Milkweed Editions, 2004
192 pages

The Depression era of the 1930s was a hard time for everyone, especially families who could not take care of their children. Maryjake wondered why her father sold the cow, and then her dog. When they packed up the car and drove off, she was ordered out and abandoned. Her mother gave her some final instructions and a mysterious package. Maryjake survives by becoming Jake and disguising herself as a boy. She makes new friends and solves the mystery of her family.
This is a great book about resourcefulness and commitment during hard times.